Shergar- A Horsenapping

Two years later, on February 8, 1983, he was kidnapped by masked gunmen from the Ballymany Stud, near The Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland [2] with the body never being discovered. The incident has been the inspiration for several books, documentaries, and a movie.

The Kidnapping

On a foggy evening, one week before the start of Shergar’s second season at stud - with up to 55 mares - a horse trailer arrived at the stud buildings and he was transformed “from celebrity racehorse to cause célèbre” (The Guardian).

Sequence of events

-At 8.30pm, a Ford Granada towing a horsebox pulled off the main Dublin road and into the stud yard. Inside his house, Shergar’s groom, James Fitzgerald thought he heard a car in the yard. He listened, heard nothing more, and forgot about it.

-At 8.40pm, there was a knock at the door. Fitzgerald’s son Bernard answered it. The caller was dressed in a Garda uniform, with a balaclava. "Is he in?" the man asked. Bernard turned to fetch his father. A heavy blow landed in the small of his back, sending him sprawling. James Fitzgerald came out of the sitting room to see his son on the floor. The next thing he saw was a pistol pointed at him. Three men pushed their way into the house. The last one carried a sub-machine gun. The family were then held at gunpoint in the kitchen. According to Fitzgerald, the kidnappers were exceptionally calm and well organized.The intruders signalled for him to put his coat on. Two of them took him outside.

-Fitzgerald was taken to the stud buildings and led the kidnappers to Shergar's stall. Fitzgerald was forced to help the kidnappers load Shergar onto a double horse box which had been drawn up to the stall. Fitzgerald said the gang numbered at least 6 men.

-Shergar was towed away, and Fitzgerald was forced into another vehicle and driven around for some 3 hours. Fitzgerald was then thrown out of the car, only 7 miles from the stud, having been given a password the kidnappers would use in negotiations.

Investigation

What happened next set the tone for a police operation that has been called “a caricature of police bungling.” Fitzgerald called the stud farm manager, who called Shergar’s vet, Cosgrove. The vet then called a racing associate, Sean Berry, who in turn called Alan Dukes, the Irish Finance Minister. Not until eight hours had elapsed did anyone call the Gardaí.

Their immediate investigation was not helped by a smart piece of planning by the gang, which had selected the same day as the biggest horse sales in the country, when horseboxes had passed along every road in Ireland. Leading the investigation into the kidnapping was trilby-wearing Chief Superintendent Jim ‘Spud’ Murphy, who became a media hero. His detection techniques were unconventional and a variety of clairvoyants, psychics and diviners were called in to help. During one interview Mr Murphy told reporters: “A clue... that is what we haven’t got.” Despite numerous reported sightings and rumours of secret negotiations in the days following the kidnap there was little new information and a news hungry press pack began to focus their attention on Mr Murphy. During one press conference six photographers turned up wearing trilbies, identical to the police chief, after which Mr Murphy was given a much lower public profile.

While the police searched every farm, stable and outhouse in the Irish Republic, the gang members set about seeking a ransom. Initially, they requested negotiations with three racing journalists, including Derek Thompson. He was dispatched to negotiate in the full glare of the media circus that descended on Ireland. The day after the kidnap, he took a call at 1.15am from someone claiming to be a kidnapper. He expected it to be traced, but was later told it had not been. "The man who does the tracing goes off duty at midnight," the police told him.

Away from the TV cameras, the real kidnappers had got in touch with the Aga Khan's Paris office. On discovering Shergar had multiple owners, the gang agreed to provide evidence he was still alive. Cosgrove was deputed to collect the evidence, which was to be left at a hotel reception. Unfortunately, a conspicuous Special Branch presence warned off the gang.

The furious kidnappers made a further call threatening to kill the horse and the Aga Khan's negotiators. Eventually, however, a photograph of the horse's face next to a newspaper was sent to the police, but the owners were still not satisfied. What the gang did not know was that the syndicate had no intention of paying because they wanted to deter future kidnappings. Syndicate member Sir Jake Astor explained: "We were going to negotiate, but we were not going to pay." Had they paid the money for Shergar's release, they reasoned, every racehorse in the world would have become a target for kidnappers.

Four days after the abduction, the kidnappers made their last call. The syndicate issued a statement blaming the IRA for the kidnap. The kidnappers have yet to be brought to justice. Several theories as to their identity and motives have been put forward.

The IRA theory

The strongest suspect for the kidnapping is the Provisional Irish Republican Army, whose motive was to raise money for arms. This theory was further supported by Sean O'Callaghan, the IRA supergrass in his book The Informer. He claims that the whole scheme was masterminded by Kevin Mallon and when Shergar panicked, so did the team. He also claimed that Shergar was probably shot within hours of being snatched. "One of the gang strongly suggested to me Shergar had been killed within hours. They couldn't cope with him, he went demented in the horsebox, injured his leg and they killed him." Discussing this allegation on the UK’s Channel 4, Fitzgerald said: "I assume he would have got very troublesome. And with them not knowing horses, they would maybe have got a bit scared of him.” O'Callaghan said the IRA had demanded a £5 million ransom from the Aga Khan that was never met.

A pit was allegedly dug in the desolate mountains near Ballinamore, County Leitrim. The body was dragged into it and quickly covered over. No markers were left at the grave. The IRA have never officially claimed responsibility for stealing Shergar.

O’Callaghan alleged the gang was part of the IRA's special operations unit, formed with the aim of raising funds through kidnap. Shergar was to be its first victim, selected because of the wealth of his assumed owner, and the misapprehension that kidnapping a horse would cause less public outcry than a human.

Of all the theories about the kidnap, O'Callaghan's is the most widely believed. His knowledge of the IRA’s kidnap plans was such that he was able to disrupt their next operation. After their trouble with the highly strung horse, they obviously decided that it would be a lot easier to kidnap a human who was also a millionaire and hold him for ransom. Their plan was to kidnap Canadian businessman Galen Weston of Brown Thomas. They planned to seize him at home in Roundwood, County Wicklow. Acting on information from O'Callaghan, armed detectives from the Special Branch staked out the house and confronted the would-be kidnappers when they arrived in August 1983. A shoot-out ensued in which two of the gang were wounded and three others captured.

Whereabouts of Shergar

Shergar has never been found and his kidnappers have never been officially identified. It is almost certain that he is dead. How he died remains a matter of conjecture. In 2000 a skull was found 100 miles from Ballymany Stud Farm. The skull had two bullet hole punctures and was buried in a sack and only loosely covered with soil, but was identified as being the cranium of a cow.

Nobody gained from the kidnapping of Shergar - the kidnappers never got their money and the insurers never paid out to the syndicate, claiming that he could still have been alive after the policy had expired. Insurer Norwich Union, which has since merged into CGNU, claimed that the policy covered only the death of the horse, not theft, and there was no proof that it had been killed.